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PLAN 

FOR THE INVESTIGATION 

OF 

AMEBIC AI ETHNOLOGY: 

TO INCLUDE THE 
FACTS DERIVED FROM OTHER, PARTS OF THE GLOBE. 
AND THE EVENTUAL FORMATION OF A 

MUSEUM OF ANTIQUITIES 

AND THE PECULIAR 

FABRICS OF NATIONS; 

AND ALSO THE COLLECTION OF A LIERARY OF THE 

PHILOLOGY OF THE WORLD, 

MANUSCRIPT AND PRINTED. 

SUBMITTED TO THE BOARD OF REGENTS OF THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION. 
AT THEIR FIRST MEETING, AT WASHINGTON, IN 
SEPTEMBER, 1846. 



NEW YORK : 
PRINTED BY EDWARD 0. JENKINS 
114 Nassau Steeet. 



18 4 6. 



MEMOIR. 



New-York, August 22d, 1846. 

Gentlemen : 

In laying- before you the following suggestions, I am 
governed by the opinion, that there is a means of investigation, 
of the subject proposed, which possesses general interest, as a 
branch of human knowledge, and cannot but be invested with 
peculiar force to men of letters, dwelling on the Western Con- 
tinent. The origin, dispersion, and affinities of nations, and 
their transference from the Eastern, to the Western hemisphere, 
prior to the period of Columbus, have constituted subjects of in- 
teresting inquiry, from the time of the Discovery. And viewed 
in the lights which are now presented by the progress of ethnog- 
raphy, modern geographical discovery, and other means of ad- 
vancing the study of nations, the inquiry may be supposed to be 
one, which the mind of Mr. Smithson had embraced in his en- 
larged conception of promoting " the increase and diffusion of 
knowledge among men." 

The occupation of the Continent itself, by men, diverse in 
their physical and mental traits, and their languages, from the va- 
rious races of its discoverers at, and after 1492 ; — separated as that 
Continent is, by seas and open straits, from other parts of the globe, 
constitutes an interesting and unsolved problem. And Its solution 
is still more interesting, when we reflect, that these native races 
had no maritime skill, adequate to the construction of ships — 
that the state of arts, if we make some local exceptions, was very 
low, — that they were without letters or literature ; and, when 
questioned as to their origin, they put forth traditions, which 
were generally better suited to engage the imagination, than to 
satisfy the judgment. 



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The extent and noble proportions of the Continent, stretching 
for thousands of miles through the Atlantic, and forming a vast 
and mountainous barrier between it, and the Pacific, entitled it 
in more than one sense, to the appellation it received, by every 
succeeding navigator of the New World. It was indeed a new 
world, not less in its grand physical structure, than for the races 
of man, w T ho roved over rather than inhabited it. And these 
latter races, now that 354 years have passed, are quite as much 
a problem to historians and philosophers, in view of their early 
connection and national affinities with the races of Asia, Africa, 
and Europe, as they were then. 

But when we examine this Continent, in all its sweeping lat- 
itudes and longitudes, in its highest altitudes, and in its lowest 
and broadest valleys, we find imbedded in its very geological 
strata, as well as in its surface — ruins, evidences that it had been 
inhabited long anterior to the Indian race — that there had been 
people of diverse arts and habits upon its plains and estuaries. 
And that, of the Red Race itself, there are evidences of muta- 
tions and changes, reaching from mere sachem ships to rude 
colossal empires, which, like that of Montezuma, broke down, in 
fact, under the glitteriug and disproportioned weight of their in- 
herent, corruptions and barbarisms. 

Forts, mounds, ditches and works of art — pottery with the 
triune emblem of the philosophy of Zoroaster — mummies 
wrapped in their half Nilotic cerements — vast pyramidal struc- 
tures of earth, and of stone — palaces and ruined cities, are among 
the objects of its antiquarian and historical interest. Not only 
from the romantic and sublime lake of Titicaca, and the fire- 
crowned peaks of the valley of Mexico, do w T e perceive centres 
of population, rushing out to rule and conquer, but from the yet 
unexplored plains of the Rio Gila and the Colorado of California — 
from the broad valley of the Mississippi, from the southern slopes 
of the Appalachian range of the south Atlantic, and even from 
the colder latitudes of the Great Lakes, where the indomitable 
Iroquois built up their republic, we behold a concurring series of 
facts and discoveries, which prove incontestably, that various 
races of the wide-spread and original family of man have lived, 
and cultivated, and warred, and died at these localities. 

When we come to apply to these vestiges of ancient structure, 
the scrutiny of exact observation and description, and to view 



5 



the facts under the lights of induction and historical anatysis, we 
elicit several classes of evidence, which tend to restore important 
links in the history of the original dispersion of our species — ele- 
vate us in the scale of knowledge, and go far to enable us to 
appreciate and understand our position on the globe. And in 
proportion as this investigation is pressed, — in proportion as 
science is applied to it, and the current of investigation deepened, 
we abstract from the boundaries of mystery and conjecture, and 
add to these of ascertained facts and history. We thus advance, 
indeed, in knowledge ; and compass one of the noblest ends of 
being. 

It is in this light that Ethnology makes its appeal to modern 
letters ; and I beg leave to bring its claims to }^our early con- 
sideration. It is proposed to consider ethnology in the most en- 
larged sense, of which the etymology of the word admits as em- 
bracing Man, in his divisions into nations ; — their affinities and 
characteristics, mental and physical, with such proofs deduced 
from history, philology, antiquities, and the exact sciences, as 
may serve to link nation to nation, and race to race. In this 
study particular reference is designed to be had to the position 
of the American Continent, and to the aboriginal races found 
upon it, when first discovered by Europeans. In this view, it 
will embrace not only geography Antiquities, and History as 
descriptive sciences, but likewise the early history of Arts, 
Ethnography, Comparative Philology, geology and physiolo- 
gy and such other collateral sciences, as may be found necessary 
to investigate, illustrate, and explain the subject. 

The mode of advancing the subject, and carrying into effect 
the inquiry, so as best to bring cut the facts for general informa- 
tion, may admit of some diversity of opinion. It is not an in- 
quiry which admits of extempore results. To consider diligently 
the various parts of the continent which furnish aliment for the 
investigation, to scrutinize and collate what has been discovered 
and written, to collect from mounds and other sources, in vari- 
ous parts of the world, specimens of ancient art, and above all, 
to embody the present and past philolcgy of tribes and nations, 
is a labor requiring time and attention. Much of this, when 
acquired, is hardly of a character to sustain popular lectures. It 
may be doubted indeed, whether in offering' researches in a ver- 
bal form, they are not always in danger of suffering from the 



6 



hands of theory and rhetoric. Still, it is a question whether 
condensed statements of parts of the inquiry, may not thus oc- 
casionally be thrown out. But whether so or not, the inquiries 
should be printed at a press, owned and controlled by the Board, 
and in a form to correspond with the general style and plan of 
their publications. In what manner compensation should be 
awarded, and whether by a temporary appointment, or a fixed 
professorship, having a residence at the parent institution, and 
the benefit of its library and collections, in the various depart- 
ments, may admit of consideration. One remark may, however, 
be confidently added, that without adequate provision for the 
time, books and travel incident to the inquiry, no person can be 
expected to enter upon effective labor in this field. 

Outlines of the study are sketched in the following synopsis. 



PRINCIPLES OF ETHNOLOGY, 



(a.) OBJECTS OF INQUIRY. 



I. PHYSICAL TYPE OF MAN, OR PHYSIOLOGICAL TRAITS BY WHICH 
THE SEVERAL RACES OF MEN MAY BE DISTINGUISHED. 

(a.) ETHNOGRAPHICAL POSITION ON THE GLOBE. 

Tribes. 

Nations. — Wiseman. 

Generic Groups. — Blumenbach, Pritchard. 

II. MATERIAL EXISTENCE. 
(a.) MEANS OF SUBSISTENCE. 

{ Zea, Maize. 
In the Hunter State < Roots and Fruits. 

( Flesh of Animals. 

C Coast-Tribes. 
Ichthyophagi . . < Crustaceans. 



Herdsmen 



( Fish. What species ? 

C Gens des Roche. 

£ Gens des large. 

f What plants cultivated ? 

| How ? and by whom ? 

■ . I . . . ! What agricultural tools i 

Agriculturists . . < _ °, 
& j Cotton-plant. 

[ Tobacco. 

[ Potato. 

Concurrent Facts in Natural History. 

(5.) MECHANICAL ARTS I SKILL. 

Clothing : Skins : Bark : Hemp-plant. 

Hunting Implements. 

Arms. 

Implements of Public Games. 
Fising Implements. ^ 



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Nets: Fish-hooks: Bone-needles. 
Navigation : Vessels : Native Cordage. 
Utensils for preparing Food. 
Knives : Pots. 

Potter's Art. What condition ? 

Vessels of Clay — raised by hand, or on the wheel ? 

Boiling. How effected, where no clay pots ? 

Metallurgy. What facts ? 

Axe — of stone — of copper. 

Trees. How felled ? 

Baskets : Twine : Awls, of bone or horn. 
Pipes — of clay — of stone. 
Art of Dyeing. 

(c.) ARCHITECTURE. 

Dwellings. How made ? Tools in reference thereto. 

Sculpture. 

Painting. 

Monuments — of stone — of earth. 

Temples : Roads : Bridges ; 

Teocalli. 

Mounds. 

Idols. 

Baths; Fountains; Sepulchres. 

III. INTELLECTUAL EXISTENCE. 

(a.) LANGUAGES SPOKEN AND WRITTEN. 

(h.) GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES, 
(c.) PICTURE WRITING. 

Hieroglyphics. 
Wampum belts. 
Quippas. 
Inscriptions. 

(d.) ARITHMETIC. 

Units : Mode and limits of computation. 

Decimal System. 

Ventegissimal Mode. 

High numbers. How denoted? 

(e.) MEASURE AND DIVISION OF TIME. 

Day : Month : Year. 

Astronomical Facts. 

Chronology. How denoted? 

Measure of Length : Capacity : Value, (currency.) 



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(/.) SOCIAL STATE AND GOVERNMENT. 

Civil Institutions. 
Political Phenomena. 
Laws — penal and civil. 
Marriage. 

Distinctions of Rank. 
Casts. 

Clans. Chieftainships. 
Descent of Titles and Rights. 
Totemic Principle — How extensive ? 
Condition of Females. 
Marital Rights to Property. 

(g.) RELIGIOUS BELIEF AND INSTITUTION S. 

Ideas of the Deity. 

Priesthood— How Organized ? 

Prophets : Jossakeeds : Metas. 

Nature of Worships. 

Fire Worship — How Spread ? 

Demonology, 

Guardian Spirits. 

Compensations for Sin : Sacrifices. 
Feasting : Fasting : Dreams : Dancing. 

(k.) MUSIC AND POETRY. 

Musical Instruments. 
Music Boards. 

Mnemonic Songs, by Symbolic Annotation. 
Rhymes — Any ? 
War Chants. 

Pictorial Rolls and Devices. 

(i.) ORAL TALES AND LEGENDS. 

Historical Fictions. 
Allegories : Fables. 
Tales of Amusement. 

Concurrent Proofs of Imagination. [Algic Researches.] 

(k.) MEDICAL KNOWLEDGE. 

Lancet : Cupping. 

Pathology of Diseases. 

Magic — as applied to Medicine and Hunting. 

Botanical Remedies : Metallic. 

Knowledge of Anatomy — What ? 

Theory of the Circulation of the Blood. 

(/.) MYTHOLOGY. 

Persian : Egyptian. 
Chinese. 



10 



Grecian. [Bryant.] 

Roman. 

American. 

(ill.) PHILOSOPHY OP LIFE, DEATH AND IMMORTALITY. 

Ancient Cosmogony : Notions of Creation. 

Deluge : Monster-era. 

Transformations. 

Metempshyehosis. 

State of the Dead : Ghosts. 

Witchcraft, 

Idea of Vampyres. 

GEOGRAPHICAL PHENOMENA, AS AFFECTING, OR MODIFYING 
THE PHYSICAL TYPE, AND THE MATERIAL AND 
INTELLECTUAL EXISTENCE. 

Climate. 

Interior, or Seaboard Position. 

Natural Productions, as affecting Physical Development. 
Tropical and Torrid Zones. 
Influence of the Polar Latitudes. 
Meteorology, and Topography generally. 

Effects of Snow and Ice on the Physical Type, as in the Eskima. 



(b.) means of ascertaining the facts. 



I. ANTIQUITIES AND EXISTING MONUMENTS, 
(a.) REMAINS OF ART. 

Buildings. 

Antique Excavations. Caves. 

Tumuli. 

Pyramids. 

Teocalli. 

Military Works — Ditches, Moats, &c. 

Columns. 

Arms. 

The Arch — How Developed ? 1 

Mechanical Tools — of Stone, Lead, Copper, 

The Lever and Wedge. 

Idols : Sarcophagi : Mosaics. 

Bricks — Art of Making, traced. 

Pottery — How Developed. 

Gems, and other Ornaments. 

Has Glass ever been found in American ruins of the ancient period? 



11 



(b.) PROOFS OF MENTAL DEVELOPMENT IN THE FINE ARTS AND 
COMPOSITION. 

Laws of Proportion in Architecture. 
Painting. 

Statuary and Sculpture. 

Picture Writing. 

Hieroglyphics. 

Phonetic Signs. 

Dawning of the Alphabet. 

Oral Tales and Traditionary Lore. 

Inscriptions. 

II, EXISTING INTELLECTUAL EVIDENCES OF GENERIC GROUPS. 

(a.) In Vocabularies. 

(b.) Dictionaries. 

(C.) Grammars. 

(d.) Plan of Utterance. 

(e.) Names of Places. (Antique.) 

III. PHYSIOLOGY. 

(a.) Skulls. 

(b.) Mummies. 

(c.) Osteological Remains. 

IV. HISTORICAL RELATIONS AND WORKS. 

(a.) Works ascribed to Natives, as in Mexico, 

(b.) Works by Europeans. 

(c.) Missionary Translations, &c. Modern Period. 

(d.) Authentic Traditions of all Ages and Countries. (Recorded.) 

V. NATURAL HISTORY. 

(a.) Changes the Earth and Animated Nature have undergone, as 
denoted by Imbedded Bones. 

(b.) What Effects have taken place in the Superincumbent Forma- 
tions, since the Existence of Mammalia? 

(c.) How deep, in the Geological Column, can the Existence of 
Man be traced ? 

(d.) Genera] Reflex Character of Geology on the topic. 

VI. MYTHOLOGY, AS A PROOF OF MENTAL AFFILIATION IN REMOTE 
AND BARBAROUS RACES. 

In reference to all the objects, it is essential to compare the 
several American nations one with another, and with the lead- 



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ing nations of other parts of the globe. In proceeding to ad- 
vance the subject, the first labour must be the labour of accumu- 
lating facts. Visits to the several objects of antiquarian interest, 
demanding attention, with proper instruments for observation, 
are required. Field surveys of ruins, and drawings of all im- 
portant objects, to be commented on, are essential. Case must 
be taken to notice, whether there be more than one era of occu- 
pancy, or one type of nationality, denoted by the same locality. 
And with the same view the different ages and relative position 
of the different geological formations, embracing ruins, or objects 
of art, should be carefully noted. Fossil bones of external or 
ancient species of animals, and beds or banks of shells of the 
eoeine or pliocine deposits, derive the character of evidence de- 
noting separate epochs of occupancy, and are invested with new 
interest. Traces of organic life, of the higher species have been 
found deeper down in the geological column, in later days, than 
were known to the elder geologists, and the vestiges of man, 
should be carefully sought in all the unconsolidated strata. We 
know the globe has been disturbed since its creation and de- 
struction and we should be prepared to find physical evidences 
of it. Not only architecture, but metallurgy, pottery, sculpture 
and drawing, should be interrogated, in examining their remains, 
on American soil. Inscriptions on rocks are of value, as anti- 
quarian proofs, as well as ail traces of the ancient method of 
symbol, or picture writing. 

But whatever degree of care is evinced by personal inspection, 
it is essential to the purposes of comparison, that a full and com- 
plete collection of antiquarian objects, and the characteristic 
fabrics of nations, existing and ancient, should be formed and 
deposited in the Institution. By adding to this, from time to 
time, such implements of art or war,, articles of costume, or other 
objects of curiosity, as might be obtained, there would be formed, 
in the end, a MusfcUM of Mankind, wherein each tribe and na- 
tion would be characteristically represented. Such a museum 
would, in itself, be a desideratum.* 

Nothing is more characteristic of the intellectual existence of 
man, than language. It is found to be a more enduring monu- 
ment, of ancient affinities than the physical type, and there is no 



* Tvl any valuable < bjecls of this kind have been brought home by the Ex; icring 
Expedition, and are now deposited in the Patent Office. 



13 



tribe, however situated, from whom this proof of affiliation, 
should not be obtained. By collecting a vocabulary and gram- 
mar of every known tongue, from printed and verbal sources, 
the Institution would present to the world, a Library of Philolo- 
gy, which would cause its site to be resorted to from the re- 
motest quarters. In the United States and British North Ameri- 
ca alone, we have at least sixty-four dialects and languages.* 
Nor should the Mythology of rude nations be neglected. It is 
the frame-work of their philosophy, and their religion, and gives 
character to their songs and poetry and every form of intel- 
lectual excitement. 

Finally, both the duty of observation in the field, and the ex- 
amination of facts and evidences, in the cabinet or library, may 
be commenced immediately, and need not be delayed until the 
contemplated buildings are completed, and other parts of the 
library, &c. perfected. Time is essential in making preliminary 
examinations. The consideration of the country may be taken 
up, in a separate and systematic manner, taking valley by valley, 
or state by state. Some portions of the land are more prominent, 
in their claims to notice than others ; but in all over which the 
tide of modern emigration sets, the evidences of its former occu- 
pation are rapidiy disappearing. The same may be said of the 
Red Race, whose language and customs it is wished to preserve. 
The earlier the labour is done, the more easy will be its execu- 
tion. Of the Mississippi valley alone, where so many evidences of 
the earliest and heaviest ancient population exist, but a few years, 
will place the most important facts beyond our reach. By adopt- 
ing the plan suggested, or some plan of this nature, we shall 
rescue from the oblivion of past generations, matter for thought 
and reflection for the future. As fast as the information is col- 
lected, digested and prepared, it can be submitted to the public. 
Whatever form for diffusing it, the Board may through its com- 
mittees adopt, can be conformed to; and in this way, the object 
may at once be made to assume a practical cast. 

In submitting this plan, which has been hastily sketched, and 
expressing at the same time the interest he feels personally 
therein, the undersigned begs leave to subscribe himself, 
With high respect, Gentlemen, 
Your obedient servant, 

HENRY R. SCHOOLCRAFT. 



* Gallatin, Am. Ant. Col. Vol. 2. 



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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



